Faraoni crosses into the area for Ranocchia but it's just too far ahead of the Nerazzurri defender

38' /

Castaignos makes his first contribution two minutes after coming on, picking out Eto'o with a deep cross; the Cameroonian coordinates himself well to connect with a difficult volley but misses the target

37' /

And the last substitution of the match is Emanuelson for Boateng

36' /

Castaignos comes on for Obi

34' /

Thiago Silva makes a timely intervention on Sneijder

33' /

Boateng is booked for a nasty foul on Sneijder

32' /

Pazzini creates an inch of space and releases a shot from the edge of the box, but he can't keep it down

31' /

Boateng blocks Obi's cross into the box

30' /

Allegri responds by bringing on Ambrosini for Gattuso

29' /

Gasperini throws Pazzini into the fray, Stankovic making way

24' /

AC Milan go 2-1 up: Pato's shot is pushed onto the post by Julio Cesar, but Boateng comes sliding in to knock the rebound into the net

19' /

Zambrotta welcomes Faroni to the pitch with a foul and receives a yellow card for his efforts

18' /

Gasperini makes his first change: Faraoni replaces Alvarez

17' /

Pato comes on for Robinho

16' /

Sneijder is booked for protesting about a foul in the build-up to the goal

15' /

Seedorf runs onto a ball played over the top and crosses from the byline for Ibra to equalise with a header. 1-1

13' /

Stankovic looks for Obi but Abbiati makes the catch

13' /

Alvarez gets his head to an attempted Rossoneri pass and finds Eto'o, who reaches the edge of the area and almost slips past Nesta. The defender gets a touch and the chance disappears

12' /

Dangerous move by AC Milan: Ibra plays a one-two and bursts into the box and brings down Samuel in the tussle for the ball

8' /

Sneijder replies down the other end, letting fly with a vicious drive from out on the left: wide

7' /

Robinho frees Seedorf on the edge of the box, the Dutch veteran lines up his shot but fires wide

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BEIJING - A strong first half and and a wonderful goal by Wesley Sneijder weren't enough. AC Milan overturned the result to win the 2011 Italian Super Cup thanks to goals from Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Kevin Prince Boateng. The Nerazzurri were in control for the first 35 minutes. The Rossoneri, who started coming into the game at the end of the first half, turned the game on its head in the space of 9 minutes after the break when, to be fair, they were the better side. What remains is a sense of regret at not having made more of the early dominance, the question marks over whether Gennaro Gattuso should have remained on the pitch after twenty minutes (a nasty foul shortly after being booked), and the protests - in vain - about AC Milan's first goal, with a foul in the build-up (Boateng on Stankovic or Robinho on Chivu). The final scoreline is a repeat of two years ago (2-1 win for Lazio, which preceded the Treble), with the added illusion of a stoppage-time equaliser by Samuel Eto'o's ruled out for offside. AC Milan 2-1 Inter.

FIRST HALF. Twenty-two seconds. That's
how long it took for the first foul to arrive: Boateng on Motta. An
early signal that this was a real derby. After 1 minute 40 seconds came the second, Van Bommel clattering into Thiago Motta. Gasperini went with for a 3-5-1-1
formation with Sneijder free to invent behind Eto'o, while Allegri
stuck to his trusty 4-3-1-2 and opted for Robinho over Pato in the starting line-up. The first shot came after 5
minutes and it was for Inter and Sneijder; the Dutchman
was having an early influence on things as he played between the lines. AC Milan had a great chance a minute later
when Ibrahimovic threaded a ball into the box for Robinho to run onto but the
Brazilian fired wide. The game was sweeping from one end to the other
with both sides looking to make quick breaks after winning possession and
the both defensive lines were high up the pitch. The majority of Inter's
moves were being created down the left channel, where Obi was proving to be a thorn in the Rossoneri's side.

Gasperini's three-man defence is not the usual static back line and Ranocchia and
Chivu were taking it in turns to surge forward and create an
extra man in midfield. Inter were closing down and winning balls and in the 13th minute a mistake allowed the Nerazzurri
to break: Alvarez headed forward for Eto'o but the Cameroon
striker's path was blocked on the edge of the box. AC Milan were
very timid in this opening stage, at times seemingly happy to let
Inter keep possession. Stankovic, who passed a late fitness test
following his injury picked up in training on Thursday, was bossing
the game in front of the defence, snapping at heels the second an opponent
received the ball. It was the Dragon who had Inter's second chance on
18 minutes following some nice build-up play: his
shot down from outside the box was too high.

In the 20th minute the
derby sparked back into life with the first key decision of the
derby. Gattuso, having been booked moments earlier for a nasty foul
on Alvarez, brought down Obi on the edge of box and Rizzoli awarded a
free kick but spared Gattuso the red card. Justice would soon be
served, though. Sneijder's effort might well have been guided by remote control, such was the
inch-perfect precision: Abbiati got the slightest
of touches but it made no difference because the curling ball came in high
and at pace, and tucked itself just inside the near post. A sweet
strike indeed. 1-0 to Inter and a deserved lead after 22 minutes.

The goal, unexpectedly
perhaps, seemed to slow down the match and also (partly) Inter, now
happier to let AC Milan take the initiative. The Nerazzurri rear guard
dropped off a few yards allowing the Rossoneri space up to the edge
of the box, making it harder to break quickly. On 35 minutes Alvarez
clocked back in again at the end of a move involving good
off-the-ball movement and a neat link-up with Sneijder, sending his strike from distance over. Eto'o had his first shot on goal in the 37th
minute, his angled effort saved low by Abbiati. AC Milan remembered
they were also in the game at this point and a dangerous-looking whipped
cross for Boateng ran into Julio Cesar's arms. That was quickly followed by a near-equaliser as the ball came back off
the upright after Ibrahimovic had got his head onto the end of
Abate's long ball. The Rossoneri ended the half in the ascendancy.

SECOND HALF. Gasperini's
side came out for the restart set out, initially, in what looked like a new
shape, 4-4-1-1, with captain Zanetti slotting into the left-back role
behind Alvarez (who soon made way for Faraoni). The aim was to fill
out the wide areas where the main threats from AC Milan had come in
the first half. However, Boateng's early chance (48) set the tone for a different second half. Meanwhile the derby was
becoming less of a tactical spectacle and more of a battle. AC Milan were having the best of the chances, Seedorf hitting a
dangerous drive wide after 52 minutes, but Sneijder quickly replied
for the Nerazzurri by powering a decent effort wide from distance.
Allegri's team were showing renewed determination and getting the ball up to
Ibrahimovic with greater frequency. When the goal came, on the hour mark,
it was the Swede's name on the score sheet, although it was highly
contested because there was a foul on a Nerazzurri player in the build-up
(in fact there were two: Boateng on Stankovic and Robinho on Chivu). Ibrahimovic played Seedorf into space on the right and the
Dutchman's accurate cross into the centre was headed home by the ex-Nerazzurri striker. AC Milan
1-1 Inter.

Tempers started to flare
as the derby atmosphere increased. Inter looked to have lost their
spark of the first half and were also starting to get worked up. AC Milan
knew it and they were playing better and producing a kind football seen only in glimpses in the first half. A long ball from Abate for Pato (who
had replaced Robinho) was met with a good first touch by the Brazilian and followed
up with an early shot that Julio Cesar managed to tip onto his right-hand
post. However, Boateng steamed in muscling his way past Chivu to get to the
rebound and put his side in front. AC Milan 2-1 Inter after 69
minutes.

That was the cue for
Pazzini to make his entrance. With little more than 15 minutes to go and
Inter behind. Gasperini's team had used up a lot of their fuel in the
first half; now they had to find some reserves from somewhere and not
let the psychological blow of going behind take hold, while AC Milan were
sitting back and waiting, having to work less. Fresh legs appeared in the shape of Castaignos and he immediately
created a chance for Eto'o at the far post (83th minute), but the Cameroonian's volley went wide. The Dutch youngster had
replaced Obi and taked up a position on
the right, with Faraoni on the left and Sneijder in the hole: Inter
were mixing up the men and their formation but their play just wasn't fluid
anymore – a real pity. In the final minutes of stoppage time, Eto'o
had a possible equaliser ruled out for offside. And thus the Chinese derby went to AC Milan.